Money Laundering Attorney in Boston

Money laundering is also considered a
white collar crime. It is defined as the concealment of the origins, and/or use/transfer,
of illegally obtained/derived money. In federal court transfer/concealment
must involve interstate or foreign commerce and money laundering allegations
often involve foreign banks and/or legitimate businesses. Use/concealment/transfer
must be with intent to facilitate the criminal activity. (In federal Court,
the criminal activity at the core of money laundering charges is call
“Specified Unlawful Activity” or “SUA”).

Money laundering is the process of concealing the origins of illegally
obtained money and making it appear legal, or “clean.” Typically,
this process involves three steps: placement, layering and integration.
First, the illegal funds are introduced into a legitimate financial system.
Next, the money is moved around, whether it’s by transfer or wire,
through several accounts. Finally, it is integrated into the financial
system through transactions until the “dirty” money appears
“clean.”

Penalties for Money Laundering

Penalties for a first-time money laundering conviction include a prison
sentence of up to 6 years, along with a fine of no more than $250,000
or twice the value of the money or property transacted, whichever is greater.
A second offense carries a minimum prison sentence of 2 years, but no
more than 8 years, and a fine of less than $500,000 or three times the
value of the money or property transacted, whichever is greater. If the
money laundering case goes to federal court, a conviction could carry
up to 20 years of prison time.

As with other white collar crimes, the applicable sentencing exposure/range
is driven by the monetary amounts involved; with sentences greatly enhanced
in federal court for SUA(s) involving illegal narcotics activity. Money
laundering indictments usually include tough forfeiture counts, too. Structuring
financial transactions ( “smurfing”) and other bank reporting
violations are often coupled with money largest charges.

Common Defense Strategies

An experienced money laundering defense attorney builds a strong defense
by doing a thorough investigation and examining records, locating possible
witnesses and identifying redeeming physical or digital evidence. Money
laundering cases are extremely complex, which coincidentally creates many
ways in that they can be challenged.

A few of the most common defense strategies include:

The source of the funds was not illegal

The client did not have any knowledge that the money had an illegal source

The money was not concealed

Often, the amount of money is disputed in these cases. If the government
alleges that they can prove a certain amount of money was laundered, with
the help of a forensic accountant, an attorney can attack the accountant’s
opinion if it isn’t credible. For example, if the government claims
that a few million dollars were laundered, but the number was actually
in the tens of thousands, it can have a huge effect on the end result
of the case.

If you are accused of money laundering, it is not a charge to take lightly.
You will need an experienced money laundering defense lawyer to defend
your freedom, assets, bank accounts ad real and personal property. Brad
Bailey, is an experienced money laundering defense attorney with over
thirty years of experience in
criminal law. He began his law career as an Assistant District Attorney in both Manhattan
and Middlesex County, Massachusetts. After never losing a case as a federal
prosecutor in Boston ( where a number of his prosecutions involved allegations
of money laundering), he switched over to exclusively practicing as a
high-profile defense lawyer, which he has been doing, exclusively, for
the past 17 years, with unparalleled success.

The best course of action to take when accused of this crime is to find
the best attorney possible. You want to avoid any missteps in your defense
strategy or not waste valuable time on a lawyer who needs to learn the
difficult and intricate nuances of these complex laws; otherwise, you
risk losing your financial property interests, as well as your freedom.
To ensure the best defense possible, as well as experienced money laundering
representation, don’t hesitate. Contact Brad Bailey NOW for a confidential
phone consultation, today.

Laundering of Monetary Instruments

Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction
represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts or
attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves
the proceeds of specified unlawful activity-
(A)
(i) with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity; or
(ii) with intent to engage in conduct constituting a violation of section
7201 or 7206 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or
(B) knowing that the transaction is designed in whole or in part—
(i) to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership,
or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or
(ii) to avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal
law, shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the
value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater,
or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. For purposes
of this paragraph, a financial transaction shall be considered to be one
involving the proceeds of specified unlawful activity if it is part of
a set of parallel or dependent transactions, any one of which involves
the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, and all of which are part
of a single plan or arrangement.

Whoever transports, transmits, or transfers, or attempts to transport,
transmit, or transfer a monetary instrument or funds from a place in the
United States to or through a place outside the United States or to a
place in the United States from or through a place outside the United States-
(A) with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity.
(B) knowing that the monetary instrument or funds involved in the transportation,
transmission, or transfer represent the proceeds of some form of unlawful
activity and knowing that such transportation, transmission, or transfer
is designed in whole or in part—
(i) to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership,
or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or
(ii) to avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal
law, shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the
value of the monetary instrument or funds involved in the transportation,
transmission, or transfer, whichever is greater, or imprisonment for not
more than twenty years, or both. For the purpose of the offense described
in subparagraph (B), the defendant’s knowledge may be established
by proof that a law enforcement officer represented the matter specified
in subparagraph (B) as true, and the defendant’s subsequent statements
or actions indicate that the defendant believed such representations to be true.

Whoever, with the intent—
(A) to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity;
(B) to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or
control of property believed to be the proceeds of specified unlawful
activity; or
(C) to avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal
law, conducts or attempts to conduct a financial transaction involving
property represented to be the proceeds of specified unlawful activity,
or property used to conduct or facilitate specified unlawful activity,
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 20 years,
or both. For purposes of this paragraph and paragraph (2), the term “represented”
means any representation made by a law enforcement officer or by another
person at the direction of, or with the approval of, a Federal official
authorized to investigate or prosecute violations of this section.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.